Rice women fall short in championship game

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, March 9, 2006

The Rice women’s basketball team’s nine-game win streak came to an end Sunday with a 55-52 loss to Tulsa in the final game of the Conference USA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

“This was a tough game, the third in three days,” coach Greg Williams said. “We were a little out of synch, and we weren’t as sharp as we have been over the past 10 games. Tulsa played a very good defensive game, and we couldn’t quite overcome their pressure.”

Rice had 23 turnovers resulting in 21 Tulsa points, but the Owls out-shot Tulsa 37.3 percent to 29 percent from the field and out-rebounded them 42-40. Forward Lauren Neaves had her 17th double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Owls made it to the finals of their first-ever C-USA tournament after beating the University of Houston March 3, 79-64.

Rice shot 57.1 percent from the field, 89.5 percent from the line and 60 percent from the three-point arc.

Neaves hit 11-of-13 shots from the field and a perfect seven free throws resulting in 29 points to lead the team.

The next day, Neaves led the team to a 57-52 victory over SMU with a career-high 36 points, the fifth-best total in school history. The Owls shot 40 percent from the field and 70.6 from the free-throw line.

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Neaves, who scored 78 points in the three games, was named to the all-tournament team. The Owls, 17-13, await a bid from the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. The 40-team bracket will be announced March 13.